Inkmates
by WriterMage
Summary: After years of finding strange drawings on her arms, 'hi' was the only word Lucy could come up with. Nalu soulmates AU. Chapter two added. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**About: I've wanted to write a soulmate AU for a while now, but this one's a bit different than the usual 'I'm getting old and I still haven't found my soulmate even though everyone else has' soulmate story (not that I don't like those).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Skype, Wikipedia, or Fairy Tail.**

It had been happening for years now. Some mornings, Lucy would wake up and find black ink scribbled up and down her left arm. At first, she thought it was just a prank. Maybe one of her friends had been sneaking into her house and drawing on her. But when she asked, they all said it wasn't them. Levy, for probably the first time ever, had no clue what was going on. Juvia and Mirajane went on and on about a soulmate or a secret lover. Meanwhile Erza was arguing with Lucy about whether or not to call the cops.

Whoever was doing it, Lucy decided, wasn't doing it to prank her. Otherwise they would have drawn things other than simple patterns that spiraled like DNA and the occasional flame-like symbol, which were usually done with red and orange pen instead of black. Maybe if it were a prank there would be writing involved as well. Maybe if she tried leaving this mystery person a message, they would leave her alone.

Lucy walked over to her desk and pulled open her top right drawer to fetch her favorite rose-colored ink pen. Without even thinking, she uncapped the pen and placed the tip above her left hand.

"I'm so going to regret this," Lucy muttered to herself. In normal circumstances, pen ink was relatively easy to wash off of skin. However, in the past when Lucy tried to erase the black ink off her arm, it wouldn't come off. It would just disappear a few days later like it was all a dream.

Lucy's pen hovered over her hand and, instead of thinking though what she was going to write, she impulsively wrote the simplest thing she could.

* * *

"I'll just be gone for the weekend, no big deal. Just promise you won't break anything while I'm gone."

"Yeah, whatever."

"I'm serious, Natsu! If I get one more call from Wendy saying that you broke the lamp again you're getting kicked out."

Natsu, the man being lectured, swung his legs on top of the table and rested his arms behind his head. "It only happened twice, Gray, get over it."

Natsu's roommate, Gray Fullbuster, turned around to leave but then stopped and turned back around suddenly. "One last thing-" he said before he saw a speck of something pink on Natsu's left hand. Gray completely forgot whatever it was he was about to say. "What is that?" he said, gesturing to Natsu's left hand.

Natsu brought his arms in front of him to inspect his hand. "What is wha-" he started to say before he saw it too. There, on his left hand, was the word 'hi' in a cursive-like font in a bright pink color.

"Well anyways," Gray said, bringing Natsu's attention back to himself, "I should get going now or I'll be late. See ya," Gray gave Natsu a small wave before leaving their apartment. Natsu was left alone and he began to think about why someone would write 'hi' on his hand. The first person he thought of was Gray, it could have been a quick joke before he left. But Natsu quickly dismissed the idea, he was pretty sure Gray didn't own a pink pen. The last time he saw his cousin Wendy was three days ago, and since the writing appeared this morning it couldn't be her. Maybe some kind of ninja or something snuck into his room while he wasn't looking! Natsu gave up on that idea as well, and decided that maybe he should cut back on the action movies.

Not knowing what else to do, Natsu grabbed the black pen that he liked to draw on his skin with and write on his right arm. It was a bit difficult, since Natsu is right-handed not left, but when he was finished the word 'hello' with a question mark at the end was written in a sloppy but still readable font.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia was mentally facepalming after re-reading what she had wrote on her hand. She could have gone with 'who are you?', 'why are you drawing on me?', or even a 'I'll call the cops if you keep this up' would have been better than the simple two letter word she went with. Lucy considered scribbling it out and writing something else, but she didn't want to take up too much space incase she needed to write more later. So instead of dwelling on the past, she picked up her journal and continued writing her soon-to-be novel. She wasn't what someone would call a famous writer, but she did have a good number of fans and she truly enjoys her job. After the weird events from earlier, she thought now would be a good time to settle down a bit. The ideas were coming easily and she soon lost herself in her writing.

After writing for a good hour, Lucy had finished her last chapter and was halfway down the left side page of the next one. Her right arm was stretched across the blank right side in the most comfortable way possible for writing. However, Lucy stopped writing when she felt a soft brush on her right arm. Lucy looked away from the page to her arm to see if something was wrong or if it was simply a fly that had flown in through her open window. She froze when she saw the familiar black ink spelling out 'hello?' on her right forearm. She had just turned the last page a second ago, and it wasn't there then so how did it get there?

Lucy placed her pen inside her notebook to keep the page and set it down on the couch before reaching to the phone on the table. She didn't know who to call, so she just dialed the last person who called. The phone rang a few times before it was picked up and a voice spoke on the other end.

"Hello Lucy. Do you need something?" the voice of Erza Scarlet came through her phone's speaker. In hindsight, Erza probably wasn't the best person to call for the situation, but Lucy had to talk to someone.

"Yeah I do. Do you remember that drawing on my arm I was asking you about?"

"Yes. Did you find out who did it?"

"No, but…" Lucy's voice trailed off as she choose her words carefully. She calmly told Erza about writing on her hand and the ghostly-like response.

"I see…" Erza said as she processed the information, "Well did you write back?"

"Write back?"

"Aren't they expecting a response?"

Lucy thought about it for a bit. Maybe if they continued to write back and forth, she would be able to find out who this person is.

"Yeah you're right. I'll do that now, thanks Erza!" Lucy spoke back, realizing she was still on the phone.

"No problem. Good luck," Erza said before ending the call.

Lucy hung up her end and threw her phone beside down onto the couch. She flopped down next to it and sighed while trying to think of what was happening and what she should write back. She already knew that it was impossible for someone to be sneaking into her house because of how fast the word appeared before. Ever since she was a little girl, Lucy always believed that there was magic in the world. It was never something that she grew out of. Besides, there was no other possible explanation for what was going on.

Lucy reached to her desk and grabbed her pink pen once again. Now that she had some time to think, she was able to write a full sentence to whomever it was sending and receiving messages.

* * *

'Do you know what's going on?'

Natsu didn't know what he was expecting to happen, but when those six words appeared on his left arm out of nowhere, he panicked a little. There was no way someone could have gotten in his appartment, wrote on his arm, and got back out before he could notice. He would have begun thinking for a reasonable explanation, but he wanted quick answers.

Natsu hit the mute button on his TV so he could focus. Whoever this was, they seemed to be just as confused as him. Natsu picked his pen back up and quickly wrote his response under where the mystery person had previously written.

* * *

'No I don't. Who is this?'

It appeared almost magically, just like the last one. Maybe it was magic. Lucy remembered Levy telling her about how in some of the books she's read two people would meet by marks appearing on their skin. Levy had said that they were soulmates if they had the same marks. Lucy's situation seemed similar. Could the book that Levy was talking about be real? Lucy picked her phone back up that was still next to her after her phone call with Erza. She sent Levy a quick text, telling her to come over as soon as possible.

Lucy took a few deep breaths and started to write on her arm again.

* * *

'Lucy Heartfilia. And you are…?'

Lucy. Their name is Lucy and judging from the feminine-sounding name, he could tell that Lucy was a girl. Natsu pulled his laptop onto him, which was still on from when he was using it to Skype his friend earlier, and opened up his internet browser to do a quick search on Lucy Heartfilia. He didn't do it to find anything personal, he just wanted to know more about this person and why the two of them could communicate this way.

While waiting for the webpage to load, he quickly wrote a response to Lucy.

* * *

Lucy got up from her couch when she heard a soft knock on her door. When she opened it, she was face to face with a very excited Levy McGarden.

"I got your text so I came over as fast as I could," she said with a bright smile.

"Thanks for coming! I was wondering if you could help me with something," Lucy smiled back and closed the door after Levy was inside.

"Sure, what is it?" Levy asked enthusiastically.

Lucy updated Levy on everything that had happened since the last time they talked.

"So I guess Juvia and Mira were right then," Levy teased, "He must be your soulmate! This is so exciting!"

"Yeah but I don't-" before Lucy could finish, she felt a familiar sensation on her left arm. When she looked, she noticed that her arm was almost completely covered in pen. She looked for the new markings, and read the results out loud.

"Natsu Dragneel," she whispered just loud enough for Levy to hear.

"Natsu, huh? Judging from the handwriting I would guess it's a boy, but isn't Natsu a girl's name?" Levy asked.

"I think Natsu's a he. A girl probably would have drawn flowers or something prettier on her arm if anything, not fire," Lucy responded, still staring at the name written on her arm.

When Lucy looks up, she sees Levy give her a little nod as she's typing something into her phone. Lucy stands behind Levy to peek at her screen.

"Levy! I don't want to stalk him!" Lucy screeches, trying to pry the phone out of Levy's hands when she sees Levy typing the 'n' in 'Dragneel'.

"I'm just trying to find out if he lives anywhere near here so you two can meet up," Levy pouts after letting go of her phone.

"Meet up?"

"Well duh! You're soulmates," Levy exclaims with a shine in her eye.

Lucy wanted to believe Levy about the soulmates thing, but it was difficult. Of all the people in the world, why would this happen to her? "Fine, you can see what city he lives in, but that's it," Lucy gives in and hands the phone back to Levy. Levy giggles and types in the search.

* * *

"Lucy Heartfilia is the bestselling author of…" Natsu begins to read her Wikipedia page but stops when he notices more pink letters appear on his right arm.

'Meet me at Magnolia Station 7pm'

Magnolia Station was about half an hour from Natsu's apartment. He gazed to the lower right-hand corner of his computer screen to check the time. It was already almost 6, so he started to get ready. But before that he wrote back a quick 'ok see you there' under her message.

Natsu was usually a pretty upbeat yet calm guy. However, today was different. He never would have expected that somehow, by writing on his skin, he can send messages to someone. He was even more stressed because he didn't have Gray to fall back on or give him advice. Natsu had heard, probably in a TV commercial or some movie ad, about a story where everyone could do what he and Lucy just did. Of course, when he heard it, he thought it was fake. He wasn't completely wrong though, the other billions of people in the world couldn't communicate by writing on their skin but somehow he and Lucy could.

Natsu decided that he should be going soon, so he quickly threw on some clothes, nothing too fancy, and grabbed a couple pens, just in case. He gave his cat Happy once last pat on the head -which, when asked, he would claim it was for good luck- and left his apartment.

* * *

"I can't believe you made me do that."

"I thought you wanted to meet him!"

"Levy…"

"I'll leave so you can get ready."

"Levy!"

The door closed and Lucy was once again alone. After finding out that Natsu lived in the neighboring city -what are the odds of that?- Levy convinced Lucy that the two should meet up halfway. Halfway being Magnolia Station. After Lucy agreed, she wrote on her arm to let Natsu know and the responce 'ok see you there' came soon after.

After Levy left, Lucy walked back to her room and all through her closet, trying to find what she was going to wear. She wondered what someone was supposed to wear when they were going to meet their so-called 'soulmate'. Lucy pondered this for a while, but eventually decided to wear a simple outfit, a pink T-shirt with a black mini-skirt and heels. Nice, but not too nice.

Lucy quickly got dressed, then grabbed her phone and car keys. Gazing at the clock in her living room, Lucy found out that it was 6:25 and she should get going.

* * *

In hindsight, Natsu probably should've asked where in Magnolia Station they should meet. It was a large building, and not only that it was very loud with all the people crowded in it. Natsu didn't even know what the girl looked like; her Wiki page didn't have a picture. It was exactly 7pm and, as if on cue, he noticed words begin to appear on his arm.

'Look behind you'

Natsu turned around to the crowd of people behind him. She was relatively easy to spot with all the writing on both her arms. He figured that the writing was how she knew it was him as well. Natsu waved to his so-called 'soulmate' and couldn't help but smile because her shirt was the same color as her ink.

 **A/N: I'm considering writing a part two with an in-depth meeting and what happens after they meet. I already have a couple ideas for it but I want to know what you all think. Let me know if you want me to!**


	2. Chapter 2

She was exactly five minutes early. Looking around the train station, Lucy wondered how she would be able to find the person she was looking for. The answer quickly came to her: his arms. His arms would have the same markings as hers. He would be easy to spot, as long as he wasn't wearing long sleeves.

"Natsu!" Lucy called. She wasn't expecting that there would be such a big crowd at this time of day. Sure, 7pm was a popular time for dinner dates, but not a good time to be taking a train somewhere. "Natsu!" she called out again, hoping he was close enough to hear.

She stopped when she saw a man about her age sitting on a bench, with ink on both his arms. He was facing away from her, so before approaching she took a quick scan of him. The first thing she noticed was his pink -of all colors- hair. It was a little on the messy side, but it looked really soft and Lucy couldn't help but want to try running her hands through his hair. But since they barely knew each other, she decided against it. Instead, she took out a pink pen and began to write the words 'look behind you'.

* * *

'Pick you up at 7?'

'Sure'

"Texting Lucy again?"

Natsu looked up to face the owner of the voice. "Why do you care?" His roommate simply shrugged, then turned his attention back to their TV. "Then don't ask," Natsu muttered so Gray couldn't hear.

Tomorrow was going to be the one-year anniversary of the day Natsu and Lucy met. Over the past year, the two of them had started out as friends but somehow ended up falling for each other. Both Natsu and Lucy's friends were convinced it was supposed to be fate, but naturally most of Natsu's friends just teased him about finding love before the rest of them. However, Natsu's younger cousin Wendy was delighted when she found out that the two of them were dating. She even said that she hoped, that someday, she would find her soulmate. Natsu and Lucy still weren't one hundred percent sure about the whole 'soulmate' thing, but they were thankful for it anyways.

"Are you going to ask her?" Gray's voice interrupted Natsu's thoughts. Natsu shook his head.

"Not today."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Well you should do it soon," Gray said, once again turning his focus back to the TV.

Instead of coming up with a witty remark, Natsu dialed a number into his phone. He was planning on taking Lucy to a well-known restaurant in Crocus. It was very fancy and expensive, so Natsu had to save up for a long time, but he decided it was worth it. When one of the hosts picked up the phone, Natsu placed his reservation -table for two- and impatiently waited for seven pm to come.

* * *

"It's almost been a full year, Lu. Start dropping some hints!"

"Instead of lecturing me, how about helping me find something to wear?"

Levy Mcgarden sighed and wandered to Lucy's closet. Lucy was holding a short, pastel blue dress against her chest. "How's this one?" she asked for the millionth time.

"Good. They're all good," Levy replied. "I doubt Natsu cares what you'll be wearing."

Lucy lowered the dress, then walked over to her full-length mirror to see how it looked for herself. "I know, but this place is supposed to be really fancy, right? I don't want to look out of place."

"Out of place? You're talking to the petite blue-haired girl who's dating a six-foot-something guy with metal piercings all over him, and we went to a similar place last month. Not a single person thought we looked weird. Trust me, you'll be fine," Levy ranted.

"Thanks, I'll wear this one," Lucy said, tossing the dress onto her bed. Before picking out accessories, Lucy gazed at the digital clock on her bedside table. "Almost time to go," Lucy said with a bit of tension in her voice.

"Nervous?"

"Just a little."

Levy smiled, and reached into Lucy's closet to grab her dress shoes. Handing them to Lucy, she gave the blonde a nod of approval. "Fill me in on what happens, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucy said. This is how most of Natsu and Lucy's dates started. Levy would help her get ready, and when it was almost time, Lucy would start to get nervous. Then Levy would say her usual 'tell me how it goes', even though Levy knew Lucy would even if she didn't ask.

After picking out her outfit, Lucy went into the bathroom to get dressed and put on her makeup. When she came out, she did a quick spin to show off her dress to Levy.

"You look great, as always!" Levy complimented.

"I'm going to head out now," Lucy said, grabbing her keys.

"Good luck!" Levy called out as Lucy walked out the door.

* * *

Lucy's phone went off at two in the morning. She wasn't too happy being woken up at such an early time, but she was still glad to see a new text from Natsu. Lucy reached to grab her phone, and yawned as she opened up her messages.

'Happy Anniversary!'

Lucy couldn't help but smile. She thought that -knowing Natsu's forgetfulness- she would be the one to bring up their anniversary first. Lucy rubbed her eyes and quickly texted him back 'Happy Anniversary' with a heart emoji at the end.

After waiting a few minutes to see if he would text back, Lucy turned her phone off and went back to sleep.

* * *

"What's the occasion?"

"He's got a date later."

"Ahh, I see."

Natsu walked out of his room, dressed in nice -but nothing too fancy- clothing, to see his roommate talking with their neighbor.

"Do you need something, Cana?" Gray asked impatiently.

"Actually, yes I do," Cana paused, trying to make the situation more dramatic, "I'm out of eggs."

"Well we don't have any, goodbye," Gray said before closing the door in her face.

"Hey, wait! I wasn't done," she snapped from behind the door.

Gray rolled his eyes, and opened the door again. "What else?"

"I have a question for Natsu," Cana stated.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Are you gonna marry that blonde girl or not? Because I haven't gone to a wedding in years and-"

Gray closed the door again before she could finish. The two men stood in silence for a few minutes, until Natsu spoke up.

"I'm going to go now."

"Alright. Don't do anything dumb," Gray teased.

"Like I would!" Natsu snapped, before leaving their apartment.

* * *

Natsu was waiting for Lucy in the park, under the sakura tree. The two of them had come here once before, the last time when the tree was in full bloom. He decided for them to come here again after seeing the look on Lucy's face when she gazed at the tree and marvelled at it's beauty. Natsu didn't see why she loved the tree so much, to him it was just a tree nothing more, but if it made her happy, then he didn't mind it.

Natsu's hand fell to his coat pocket, where a small black box was sitting. Every time he looked at the object inside the box, it filled him with worry but excitement at the same time. He couldn't quite describe the feeling; it was like parachuting from a high cliff -exciting, but dangerous.

"Natsu?"

He turned behind him to see Lucy, with a puzzled look on her face. She was probably trying to figure out what he was thinking about.

Natsu's eyes quickly scanned her body. Lucy was wearing a light pink dress, similar to the color of the sakura tree pedals. She also had on a silver necklace, and her hair was tied back with a few strands down to shape her face.

"You look great!" he complimented with his usual large grin.

"Thank you, you do too," she said with a light blush on her face.

The two of them looked up at the tall sakura tree, and stood in silence for a few minutes. After a while, they began talking again. It was just a normal conversation, they asked about how each other was doing, what they did since they last met, and if they had any plans for the rest of the day. Natsu tried working up the courage to pull the small black box out of his pocket multiple times, but each time he got scared and chickened out. But he soon came up with a new plan.

Natsu wasn't the most romantic guy, but he did enjoy a bit of irony.

* * *

Lucy was nervous. No matter how much small talk she had with Natsu, she couldn't help but worry about how the day would turn out. Today, their one year anniversary, was a very special day, so she didn't want to say something wrong and screw it up. She looked away from Natsu, back up to the sakura tree, and she didn't notice when Natsu disappeared from her side. That is, until she felt a familiar sensation on her left arm.

She smiled as she watched letters appear on her arm. Soon letters turned into words, two to be exact. She held back a laugh, thinking about how the two of them met when she decided to write two letters on her arm.

"Lucy?" Natsu was almost done writing. She heard his voice from behind her, so she turned around to see Natsu down on one knee. He was holding a black pen in his right hand, and an open ring box in the left. He didn't say anything, so Lucy looked back down to her left arm where two words were written in his signature black ink.

'Marry me?'

 **A/N: That's it for part two! Thanks to everyone who left comments on part one and asked me to continue this story! Sorry I took so long to finish it, but today is nalu day so I got the motivation from that to finish this. Also, I don't think I will write a part three to this, sorry. But as always, let me know what you think and if you liked it!**


End file.
